The municipalities emerged in 1838

The Chairmanship Act came into force on 1 January 1838 and marked the start of municipal self-government in Norway. The law established city municipalities (A market town (Old Norse: kaupstaðr, marknadsplass) was an urban community with privilege that gave townspeople a monopoly on trade and other industries, so-called market town rights. At the same time, there was a type of urban community with more limited rights, namely the charging stations, which for a long period were subordinate to the nearest market town.) and district municipalities (A rural municipality (1837-1992) was a municipality that did not have market town rights like the city municipalities had. The name herad municipality itself was introduced in 1863.) based on the existing ecclesiastical divisions. The municipalities were largely based on the former The clerical districts were the most important units within ecclesiastical administration and included several parishes (congregations). They were not normally supposed to cross municipal boundaries, but did so in some cases. Clerical districts were gradually abolished from 2004., which were administrative units within the Church of Norway.

The municipalities thus often coincided with church parishes and clerical districts, which reflected the strong connection between the church and the state in Norway at that time.

A changing Norway

Norway's municipal structure has gone through major changes. It is possible to observe a steady trend towards more and smaller municipalities before the Second World War, while the post-war years are characterized by a movement towards fewer and larger municipalities. Defining the absolute number of municipalities per year is not as easy as it seems. Here, consideration must be given to both the status and the shipping. In the figure Number of municipalities per year, the starting point is the number of municipalities that existed until 1 January 1938. A loading city (or "unloading and loading city") was a town or a port where one had the right to conduct direct trade and also the import and export of goods. such as Hvitsten and Holmsbu are not counted, even if they are found in some censuses as their own municipalities. In recent years, it has been a matter of course that changes in the municipal structure take place from 1 January. Previously, the changes could take effect at any time of the year. In Statistics Norway's classification system KLASS, the changes are taken into account from 1 January of the following year so that they can go in step with the production of statistics. This is the reason why numbers from the figure The number of municipalities per year may deviate from other sources. If, on the other hand, you check the number of municipalities the following year, you see an interaction.

Number of municipalities each year
Line chart with 184 data points.
The chart has 1 X axis displaying Year.
The chart has 1 Y axis displaying Municipalities. Data ranges from 356 to 747.
Highcharts.com
End of interactive chart.
Number of municipalities each year
YearCount
2025357
2024357
2023356
2022356
2021356
2020356
2019420
2018420
2017426
2016428
2015428
2014428
2013428
2012429
2011430
2010430
2009430
2008430
2007431
2006431
2005433
2004434
2003434
2002434
2001435
2000435
1999435
1998435
1997435
1996435
1995435
1994435
1993439
1992439
1991448
1990448
1989448
1988448
1987454
1986454
1985454
1984454
1983454
1982454
1981454
1980454
1979454
1978454
1977454
1976445
1975443
1974443
1973444
1972444
1971449
1970451
1969451
1968451
1967454
1966460
1965466
1964525
1963689
1962705
1961731
1960732
1959743
1958743
1957744
1956744
1955744
1954744
1953744
1952744
1951744
1950744
1949744
1948744
1947744
1946744
1945744
1944745
1943747
1942747
1941747
1940747
1939747
1938747
1937747
1936747
1935747
1934747
1933747
1932747
1931746
1930745
1929740
1928739
1927736
1926727
1925725
1924711
1923711
1922703
1921703
1920700
1919696
1918691
1917689
1916682
1915678
1914674
1913664
1912661
1911661
1910657
1909650
1908644
1907633
1906629
1905627
1904619
1903615
1902612
1901600
1900593
1899591
1898584
1897583
1896576
1895572
1894571
1893562
1892560
1891556
1890552
1889549
1888548
1887548
1886543
1885536
1884531
1883527
1882527
1881525
1880524
1879522
1878517
1877517
1876515
1875512
1874512
1873508
1872508
1871507
1870502
1869498
1868494
1867492
1866485
1865480
1864477
1863471
1862466
1861461
1860458
1859453
1858448
1857443
1856442
1855437
1854434
1853431
1852427
1851425
1850423
1849417
1848412
1847410
1846408
1845407
1844404
1843404
1842404

Introduction of municipal numbers in 1946

During the 1946 census, Norwegian municipalities were given municipality numbers for the first time. The numbering made it simpler and more unambiguous to create a form for digital handling.

At the time, no one could imagine the frequent changes and the rapid digital development that came later. For machine handling of data, it is an advantage that the codes are unique. This important premise has been more strictly followed up in recent years. While it is clear that there is a good deal of reuse of numbers in this time series. Municipalities have often retained their number in the event of splits and mergers, even if the geographical extent has changed a lot. In addition, municipality numbers have been reused for completely different municipalities. You can see some examples in the table below:

An observant reader will notice that since the municipality number was first introduced in 1946, there is a long period (back to 1838) where we have had to use "fictitious" codes. This means that we have extended the timeline backwards, and where municipalities disappeared before 1946, they have been assigned a number, even if there is no statistical data that can be linked to this number.

Changes in boundaries, name and number

Municipalities have changed a lot, been divided, merged, changed names, borders or belonged to a county.

1120 Klepp municipality stands out as the only municipality in Norway that is unchanged with respect to boundaries and county belonging since the Presidency Act was introduced in 1837. 1

Over time, many municipalities have changed names, often in connection with mergers or divisions. Sometimes it was only the spelling that was changed. Oslo and Solund changed names several times. In 1890, 1412 Utvær changed its name to 1412 Sulen, and in 1923 the name was again changed to 1412 Solund. 0301 Christiania changed its name to 0301 Kristiania in 1877, before it was changed to 0301 Oslo in 1925.

The municipal number has also undergone several changes. Here are examples of code changes that are not a result of splitting or merging:

  • 0421 Kongsvinger got a new municipality number in 1965, when it was changed to 0402.
  • 0798 Stavern received city status in 1943, and in that context the municipality number was changed to 0708.
  • 0980 Åseral got a new number in 1881 when the municipality was transferred from Aust-Agder to Vest-Agder.
  • 0580 Sollia was transferred from Oppland to Hedmark county and was given number 0431 in 1890.
  • 1214 The beer was transferred from Hordaland to Rogaland in 2002.
  • In 2019, 1567 Rindal county moved from Møre og Romsdal to Trøndelag and got a new municipality number, 5061.

Several changes took place during the regional reform in 2020, which can be seen in the table below:

It is not unusual for a municipality to be divided into two or three new municipalities, but there are few municipalities that give rise to four new municipalities. This happened, for example, with Kvernes (1553), which in 1897 was divided into Eide (1551), Kornstad (1552), Kvernes (1553) and Bremsnes (1554).

Røros, Grong and Ibestad are also the mother municipalities of four new daughter municipalities. For example, in 1927 Røros was divided into Røros mountain town (1640), Røros country parish (1641), Brekken (1642), and Glåmos (1643). In 1923, Grong was divided into Røyrvik (1739), Namsskogan (1740), Harran (1741), and Grong (1742). In 1926, Ibestad was divided into Andørja (1916), Ibestad (1917), Astafjord (1918), and Gratangen (1919).

The documentation for the Standard for municipal division is coming soon.

The counties

The concept of county in Norway has deep historical roots that stretch back to Norse times, when the counties functioned as petty kingdoms. Norway's modern county divisions were however first established as "amter" (counties) in 1671, but underwent several reforms in line with changing political and administrative needs.

In 1919, the "amter" were renamed "fylker", and over time the division has been subject to major changes, particularly in recent decades. The diagram "The number of counties per year" shows this historical development through the number of county units over time, while the map visualization provides an overview of geographical extent, with the opportunity to study changes across different years.

Number of counties each year
Line chart with 184 data points.
The chart has 1 X axis displaying Year.
The chart has 1 Y axis displaying Counties. Data ranges from 11 to 20.
Highcharts.com
End of interactive chart.
Number of counties each year
YearCount
202515
202415
202311
202211
202111
202011
201918
201818
201719
201619
201519
201419
201319
201219
201119
201019
200919
200819
200719
200619
200519
200419
200319
200219
200119
200019
199919
199819
199719
199619
199519
199419
199319
199219
199119
199019
198919
198819
198719
198619
198519
198419
198319
198219
198119
198019
197919
197819
197719
197619
197519
197419
197319
197219
197120
197020
196920
196820
196720
196620
196520
196420
196320
196220
196120
196020
195920
195820
195720
195620
195520
195420
195320
195220
195120
195020
194920
194820
194720
194620
194520
194420
194320
194220
194120
194020
193920
193820
193720
193620
193520
193420
193320
193220
193120
193020
192920
192820
192720
192620
192520
192420
192320
192220
192120
192020
191920
191820
191720
191620
191520
191420
191320
191220
191120
191020
190920
190820
190720
190620
190520
190420
190320
190220
190120
190020
189920
189820
189720
189620
189520
189420
189320
189220
189120
189020
188920
188820
188720
188620
188520
188420
188320
188220
188120
188020
187920
187820
187720
187620
187520
187420
187320
187220
187120
187020
186920
186820
186720
186619
186519
186419
186319
186219
186119
186019
185919
185819
185719
185619
185519
185419
185319
185219
185119
185019
184919
184819
184719
184619
184519
184419
184319
184219

 

The two-year project 2022-GEO-IBA-HistGeoStat is financed by Eurostat.

1 The text "1120 Klepp municipality stands out as the only municipality in Norway that has had the same boundaries since the Chairmanship Act was passed in 1837." was clarified with "is unchanged with respect to boundaries and county". The text: "Also the municipalities Time (1121), Vega (1815) and Saltdal (1840) have remained relatively stable throughout history, although there have been minor border adjustments due to transfers of smaller areas." was removed.